


And heavy wings grow lighter

by SarIIon



Category: Witch's Heart (Video Game)
Genre: Ashe gets a tiny bit drunk, Bonus Stage Spoilers (Witch's Heart), Complete, Complicated Relationships, Drinking, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hair Braiding, Nightmares, implied PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 18:09:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20050330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarIIon/pseuds/SarIIon
Summary: Maybe it’s the wine,Maybe it’s the pain,But our smiles taste as bittersweet as the rain.This time, it's Claire who finds Ashe drinking.





	And heavy wings grow lighter

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Unhealthy coping mechanisms, Alcohol, Implied PTSD, nightmares, mild panic attack

The heart seared at his skin, peeling it away from his face as he ran toward the flames. Shadowy arms and strong hands grabbed at his body like they always did, and he writhed desperately against their grip to no avail. His limbs were weak with fear, a cold, leaden fear which contrasted so drastically with the blistering air swirling around them.

“No…NO!” Mustering up one last surge of panicked strength, he surged forward, reaching out toward the house desperately.

Slender fingers stretched toward the wall of flames, and mere inches before he made contact, his flesh melted away from bone; in an instant, burning pain shot up his arm as exposed skeleton dissolved into dust. Swirling on the torrid draft, the ashes sucked into his lungs, sending him collapsing to the ground in a choking fit. It burned. Blistering air raked claws against the inside of his chest, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe at all.

Acrid smoke pushed him into the ground, and he didn’t have the strength to fight it. Clutching at his throat, he thrashed with agony as the dirt boiled beneath him, searing guilt into skin and bone.

_“When are you going to save me, brother?”_

Ashe woke up shaking. Beads of sweat dripped down his face as he clutched his chest. Hot…His whole body felt as if it was burning up. Sometime during the nightmarish jerking his body had been instinctively doing in reaction to the dream, his hair tie had come undone, and now wild strands of teal hair plastered themselves on the back of his neck and over his face like a smothering blanket.

He’d grown out his hair a long time ago partially because he didn’t have the energy to cut it, and partially because it helped convey a soft personality. With long hair he looked more trustworthy, less sharp and more harmless. Even though it was useful, he hated it. Hated it so much.

Suffocating. It was suffocating.

Choking, he brushed long locks off his face only for them to immediately fall back over his eyes. Hot…It was so hot. It felt as if the sheets underneath him were melting, slowly swallowing him into an abyss of blistering air and burning regrets.

Ashe weakly tried to push himself up only for a dizzying spell to hit already buzzing thoughts. Soundlessly, he collapsed back into bed, immediately feeling panic begin to crawl up his chest as hair cascaded over his face like chains of iron.

Away.

Need to get away…

Perhaps it was a last-ditch effort, but Ashe pushed against damp sheets with shaking hands, successfully rolling himself off the edge of the bed.

_ *Thud*_

Daggers of pain shot down his neck as his skull crashed against the hard ground, but ironically it was that same pain which pierced through panicked thoughts. The ground was cooler, so he lay there like a rag doll for the longest time, catching his breath and feeling a spreading chill seep through his clothing and into his bones.

It was probably late into the evening by the time Ashe pulled himself together enough to wobble toward the table in his room and sit down heavily. It briefly crossed his mind that he should braid back the hair curtaining over his face, but he could only muster up the energy to tuck it behind his ear for the time being.

Presentability could wait…At that moment, he couldn’t think of a better time to drink.

~.o.~

Taking a deep breath, Claire steeled pounding nerves and gently knocked on the green door.

“Come in!~” The voice was sing song as always, as it called cheerfully.

Well…No turning back now…

“Hey Ashe.” Compared to his chipper one, her greeting was a lot more subdued as she closed the door behind her.

“Hmm? Miss Claire! What’s the matter?” His hair being down was enough to catch her by surprise alone, but the small smile slid off her face completely at the sight of wine bottles lined up on his table.

“…Ashe. You really aren’t feeling well, are you?”

“…Ahh, I’m just enjoying a drink or two. Did you know red wine is full of antioxidants? Care to join me for a glass, Miss Claire? This wine in particular is exceptionally sweet.”

“…Well, I can understand that…” Frowning slightly, Claire took in the details of his appearance as he babbled on about taste notes and wine grapes. Though strands of hair which had escaped from behind his ears were hanging down over his face, she could see the flushed tint to his cheeks. Adding that to the slightly slurred and wandering tone of his voice, she easily put together that he was more than just a little buzzed. “Have you been drinking any water?”

“Miss Claire, sit down! I brought a couple other glasses up too—”

So the answer to her question was most likely ‘no…’ Chewing on the inside of her lip, Claire gave him a small smile and motioned toward the door. “I’m going to get you some water okay?”

“Miss Claaaairrree…”

“I’ll be right back, don’t worry.” With that reassurance, she slipped out of the room, closing the door firmly behind her. The night-time demons were meandering around in the hallway, and she skirted around them carefully before ducking into the kitchen.

It was simple enough to find a container, but deciding on a suitable snack stumped her for the longest while.

By the time Claire returned with the pitcher of water, a spoon, and a small bowl of oatmeal, Ashe was resting his forehead against the table, mumbling something she couldn’t quite catch under his breath.

“Ashe? I got you some water. It’ll hurt in the morning if you don’t do your best to stay hydrated.” Setting everything down on the table, Claire leaned over to pluck a clean wine glass from its spot and fill it with water.

“Drink with me…”

She had to lean forward to catch the whining mumble, but nevertheless, she filled up another glass of water for herself. “Alright. Let’s have some water together okay?” It wasn’t necessarily that she didn’t like drinking herself, she just preferred how alcoholic notes complemented dishes or desserts over downing it straight…That and…Hearing so many stories of suffering really killed the ‘party’ mood.

“Hot…” When Ashe made no move to take the glass, she stood up worriedly and crossed over to his side of the table.

“Ashe…Are you sick?” At the sound of her voice so close, he jerked up in his seat, instinctively flinching away from the hand stretching toward his forehead.

“Wha- No, I’m perfectly fine, Miss Claire!” Waving his hands through the air in a pacifying motion, he let out a small breathy laugh. “It’s just a little hot in here, that’s all!”

It was in fact, not hot in the room at all. If anything, she would say it was slightly chilly due to the cold breeze wafting through an open window.

Lying…He was lying again.

_ ‘Try to understand, Claire.’_

Crossing the room in a few purposeful strides to close the window, she took a deep breath and returned to sit in the chair beside him. Keen golden eyes had followed her movements around the room, and only they betrayed the wary attention Ashe was instinctively maintaining.

“May I feel your forehead?”

“…Sure! But I assure you, I’m perfectly fine!~” His voice was melodically cheerful, and it didn’t match the tensing of his shoulders at all.

But her hand was cool as it pressed gently against his forehead, and without thinking, he grabbed her wrist to keep it there when she made a movement to pull away.

“Wh-What…Ashe?!”

“Ah! I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me!” Blanching in realization, he quickly released his hold. “Your hand was…cooling…”

“You don’t have a fever…” Claire bit her lip as she took in his heavy breathing and uncharacteristically flushed face. His skin wasn’t blistering, but it was slightly warm and clammy with sweat. While the room wasn’t hot in the slightest, Ashe seemed unusually on edge about the heat…_Oh. He wasn’t thinking of…was he?_ “Can I tie back your hair for you? It looks really hot with it down.”

His nod of consent was slightly stiff, but Claire didn’t notice as she scooted closer to gently begin carding through long locks of hair.

“Your hair’s really soft, Ashe.” Humming to herself, Claire combed her fingers though disorderly strands in order to ease out any tangles before dividing teal tides into three somewhat equal sections. “When I was little I used to have long hair too, but it always caught on tree branches when I was playing…”

Her voice was mellow and meandering as she continued to work, rambling in some story about picking random flowers and herbs in the woods as a child and pretending that they were the ingredients for magical potions. Carefully gathering up stray wispy strands, slender fingers accidentally brushed over the back of his neck like butterfly wings. If she looked at his face as she gently crossed sections into a loose plait, Claire would’ve noticed amber eyes glaze over as a blank expression replaced the strained smile. But she didn’t, and so, that brief moment of weakness would remain his secret.

“Do you have a hair tie?” After a few moments of attempting to understand slurred mumbles, Claire shook her head with a small smile. “It’s fine, I’ll use mine.” Pulling on a tail, she undid the neat bow of her hair ribbon in one smooth motion before carefully wrapping it around his braid and tying a proper bow. Due to her positioning, the resulting plait was centered instead of to the side as he usually wore it, but she supposed it was for the best because it was more out of the way.

Stepping back to examine her work, Claire nodded with pride. She wasn’t exactly the best at braiding, and there were a couple stray strands here and there, but overall, the outcome wasn’t too bad. “Navy blue looks good on you, Ashe.”

“…Thank you, Miss Claire.” Hazy golden pupils slowly slid back into focus as she sat down, and before long, his voice was back to its usual cheery tone. “You should braid my hair more often! I never knew you were so good at it!”

“Really, it’s nothing…” Sitting back down, she pushed the glass of water toward him. “But I wouldn’t mind. You can always ask me for help…I mean it!”

“…” A brief flash of something unrecognizable passed over his face as he brought the cup to his lips, but by the time he set it back down, it was gone. “You can count on me too, Miss Claire! We're friends after all!”

Ashe was pretty giggly for the rest of the night as he babbled on about demons and wine and cooking, and keeping him company, Claire couldn’t help but eventually notice that his smile was a little different than usual. It seemed slightly more mellow, soft with tiredness, and a tiny bit sad.

It wasn’t his normal lively, energetic, and bright grin, but she didn’t mind

Because she could tell it was whole-heartedly genuine.

**Author's Note:**

> -The title is from "Vanilla Twilight" by Owl City which is a song I attribute to Ashe a lot.  
-Hopefully no one's super ooc, it's my first time writing them, and they're both really complex characters :)  
(I hc Ashe as a little touch-starved, so I incorporated that too a bit)
> 
> Man…I really hope his ending isn't heartbreaking when the finale comes out, bc everyone just needs some rest.


End file.
